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The Insektlife Cycle — Post Rock band in PH getting raves all the way from EU

If you haven’t heard about them do not worry, it’s not because you are living under a rock… it’s probably because you’ve been a victim as well of being overdosed with the mainstreaming of the media of what is cool, trendy, fashionable, healthy, sexy or whatever is on the market nowadays or just maybe you haven’t really heard about them! No pressure. 🙂

I have loved instrumental music ever since I have come across Joe Satriani, I enjoy listening to music. So when one of the Vivo Brothers introduced me to their new music, I was in awe and secondly shocked! I may be over reacting but it’s hard to contemplate that these same guys from a Death Metal background has gracefully (in a manly way) shifted to Post Rock as easy as breathing air! And mind you, their Death Metal days aren’t over yet. Hateure/Barabbas is still busting amplifiers and smoking riffs as you read this. But now, we are taking the spotlight on their new music album called Purple Gaze.

The moment I placed that CD into the player I knew there was no way I am ever going to stop playing it all day long until I realized it was already Hump Day! I imagine going on an impromptu road trip with a bunch of my good old friends to destination nowhere! I hear our boisterous laughs as we day dream on what the future would be like while I take my hand out of the car window as I let it dance along with the wind. Letting my palm and fingers feel the rush of a traffic free road and not worrying if my hair is in place or not. I imagine rushing out of the car after that long road trip and running through the fields endlessly spinning around as I fall down on the grass and look at the bright sunny sky waiting… waiting until the sun sets in front of us and getting a good kiss from the girl that I love and in a split second get knocked over by your pals because of being too cheesy! I imagine skinny dipping at the beach that we ran into as the night falls… cold, yet fun, daring and entertaining because there’s a thrill you can’t explain and you know the song’s about to end but you still want more and more but you are already purple drank.

Amidst the band’s busy schedule, I was lucky enough to ask them a few questions regarding monkeys, music and/or mosquitoes. 😀 Read on:

Joy Legason – Bass

Jay Jumawan – Guitar

Ronnel Vivo – Guitar

Ronaldo “Nal” Vivo – Drums

Why “The Insektlife Cycle”?

Joy: “Me and Jay went into this project as soldiers, we only do what’s needed to be done. The Vivo’s are running the show, doing all the decisions including the name of the band.”

Jay: “Good question. I dunno…ask the Vivo brothers. I like the “k” in the spelling. It’s so rebel….a big middle finger to grammar Nazi’s everywhere.”

Nal: “Because…”

Ronnel: “The idea of this musical project came from Nal (my brother), as there are lot of times that we are thinking of some sort of avenue for a different musical spectrum from our main band HATEURE, and this was it.

The musical project was dubbed as ‘The Insektlife Cycle’ as we need to come up with a name for a gig we will play in, I can’t remember if it really holds significance to the project or to what we are doing except for the fact that it sounded real good as a band name. You know, sometimes, something need not to have an elaborate explanation or rationale for its existence.”

From playing death metal genre with your other band Hateure/Barabbas, how and where did the idea come from transitioning to Post Rock with T.I.C?

Joy: “It wasn’t much of a change, music is music regardless of what genre it is. Other than Barabbas (Death Metal), which we have been doing for 14 years, I’ve been involved with other projects like OME (Folk) & Carre (Pop).”

Jay: “So, I’m a guitarist for Barabbas along with Joy. Joy hooked up with the Vivo brothers for ILC and I was invited to join some late night long ago. So, I said “Yeah ok…” then I think I went back to sleep or was I watching some clip on xvideos.com <http://xvideos.com>, not sure. Eventually, I woke up one day, clicked on the guide tracks they sent me and I was like “Hey, this is good shit!” and started doing guitar work that I don’t normally do with Barabbas, which is a refreshing experience for me as a musician.”

Nal: “I wouldn’t call it a transition, but a mere exploration of other musical territory outside our zone. So yes, the project started summer of 2013. Saw this acoustic gig that’s in need of more bands, so I messaged the organizer (which happened to be our friend) and lined up The Insektlife Cycle. If I’m not mistaken, the gig would happen the next night. At that time, we have no single original song to play and we wouldn’t definitely do a cover. So that very night, I picked up the guitar, wrote two riffs (that would be Sweet Sleep Paralysis & Dissonance) and made Ronnel arrange it. Eventually we came up with a very ambient, drone-y and melodic soundscape. I was blown with how the music was shaped. I contacted a good friend of mine, Erwin Dayrit (UngazPress) to play bass for us. We rehearsed for one night, we practiced ‘til morning and played live the next night, and it was fucking awesome! A very enticing musical experience indeed.

After that gig, Erwin told me he can’t be regular with the ILC. Ronnel and I continued writing songs. I posted Sweet Sleep Paralysis on Facebook then I got this message from Joy telling me he wants to play bass for ILC and even asked me to include Jay on the line-up. So I said cool, sure. We passed all the accomplished songs to them before setting a jam. After like, 2-3 weeks. We visited Jay’s studio at Espana (RJC Audio) and rehearsed. When we heard Jay’s guitar works and Joy’s bass arrangements on Purple Drank, we knew they know what’s going on with our heads.”

Ronnel: “Firstly, we don’t consider our music as to certain specifics, like post rock or any post-music shit, or any labels music patrons is giving to music. We are just translating the things that are happening within our heads into a more palatable aesthetic, so essentially, our music is spontaneous and is founded more on effective aspect of our personality.

With regards to the transition, I don’t think that there’s such thing that had occurred. No transition because this is an entirely new musical project for all of us. The sounds that we are creating on each of everyone’s main band will stay rooted on the ground where it flourished, while on this one, it is, again, an entirely different experience for all of us. This serves as our breathing space, I must say.”

What’s the inspiration behind Purple Gaze?

Joy: “Road trips, Sunny days, beautiful women, drooling bulldogs?”

Jay: “I listen to the tracks and I see the reflection of the sun on an emerald blue ocean, a luscious forest behind me, a cool breeze…then I opened my eyes and I’m inside my car stuck in the middle of traffic and I’m like “Fuck.” Yeah, that’s what I think of Purple Gaze.

Nal: “I guess it’s more of an inspiration in front of Purple Gaze.”

Ronnel: “I don’t know. There’s no particular inspiration behind the Purple Gaze release but to create and release more music as much as our mental faculties and physical capabilities would allow us to do it. It’s like a record not only of the music itself but as well as our existence.”

What’s your reaction with having extended plays from the EU countries? Not to mention getting great reviews!

Joy: “It’s always awesome to be appreciated.”

Jay: “Feels awesome to be able to have our sound heard by anyone, anywhere. The great reviews is just icing on the cake.”

Nal: “WOW.”

Ronnel: “Nothing, it’s a mere complementary thing. Appreciated or not, having extended plays abroad or not, getting great reviews or not, for me, it doesn’t really hold a great weight on my creative and driving force in writing music and it also doesn’t influence me in any aspect I could think of personally, so the aesthetic is completely independent on such things. Moreover, I think if we overindulge ourselves to praises and compliments, it will kill our burning desire to create visceral music. For me, it is integral, creatively, not to be satisfied with what you have done even it was commended considerably by others.”

What’s next for T.I.C.?

Joy: “Continue making great music that we love because let’s face it, we are doing this for ourselves, others appreciating what we do is just an added bonus.”